Materials

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A bit of a run-down on the fabrics used in-house.

Canvas and Vintage CanvasNew reclaimed and Vintage
We have a whole page devoted to our favourite substrate: new and vintage canvas

WebbingNew
We use new polyester seatbelt webbing on most of our bags as it is very strong and durable. Polyester, while a less evil plastic, is still made from oil so we are researching alternatives for the future such as hemp. The really good thing is that all our webbing is made locally in Melbourne. Products that use this are the Commuter Pannier, Legbands, Sash and Satchel.

LeatherNew and Reclaimed
The new kid on the block at Industrial Sewing Workshop is leather. Cathy has been researching all elements of this amazing material from production, designing, buying, cutting, sewing and finishing. It’s a long road to walk on and some of the pitstops will be documented in the journal. Some products will be made from new leathers, both vegetable tanned and chrome tanned as they have important different qualities. The only product that uses leather at the moment is the Handlebar Handbag.

Plastic BucklesNew
On our pannier bags we have used plastic buckles, loops and sliders. We’ve found the best buckles we could, they are YKK brand and made in Taiwan primarily.

Metal SlidersNew
Used on shoulder bags and inside the pannier for the shoulder strap anchor. These are all made in either China or Taiwan.

ZipsNew
We choose Australian made YKK zips, the best we know exist.

Reflective TapeNew
We choose 3M-brand reflective tape because of its reputation for reflective reliability.

PVCNew v’s reclaimedWe use reclaimed pvc fabric from the stash, this is fabric sourced as offcuts from bigger industry or discarded roll ends. Current products that use these fabrics are the Zippy Shiny Envelopes and the Garden Bag. Not for sale otherwise.

FoamNew
We have a small stock of medium density polyethelyne foam. The conclusion in our research is that this material is 100% recycleable and we buy it in an undyed colour when we can. This foam is made in New Zealand. Thicknesses available are 6mm, 10mm, 12mm and 15mm. Please email if you want to buy a piece.

Bicycle SpokesReclaimed
We recognise the strength of the hardened stainless steel bicycle spoke and try to rescue and reuse these by sourcing discarded wheels. At the moment, however we don’t have any products in production that use the spokes 🙁

ENQUIRIES

Ordering

Seen something you want?
Some products are in the SHOP, otherwise, contact us with what you're after and we'll either send you either a PayPal invoice or details for direct deposithello@industrialsewingworkshop.com.